No Trusting A Tornado

May 21, 1985

Tornadoes almost seem to have individual personalities in the unique ways they exert their tremendous force upon the landscape.

Charles Anderson, a University of Wisconsin meteorologist who charts such differences, reports that almost nothing has ever been found of a 23-foot recreational vehicle that was blown away from the Iowa town of Barneveld in 1984.

A bumper and license plate from the vehicle were found 28 miles to the northeast, but there has been no sign of the motor, body or other heavy parts of the vehicle.

The Barneveld tornado was also said to have turned a refrigerator inside out and caused a shower of nails near Green Lake, nearly 70 miles away, where flat tires were a common problem for weeks after the tornado.

The driver`s license from one Barneveld man`s wallet was found at the Appleton airport while his wallet, with all other items remaining intact, in Barneveld.

``That shows the capriciousness of a tornado and how it can act on a fine scale,`` Anderson said.

DESERT ANTS LOCATE WATER

Every desert animal has to cope with a basic problem: the scarcity of water. A species of large black ant in southern India has evolved an ingenious method of harvesting dew.

Where the ants live, around the city of Bangalore, five hot months can pass with hardly a drop of rain. Light dew often forms early in the morning but evaporates in one to three hours.

The ants have a way of avoiding what would otherwise be a frantic, energy- consuming search each morning for dispersed droplets.

Around the entrances to their underground colonies they pile feathers and dead ants. At night, considerable moisture condenses in the piles.

``Even on mornings when no dew is evident elsewhere, moisture is usually available for an hour or more on the feathers and ant remains,`` reports Mark W. Moffett of Harvard University in National Geographic Research.

As they depart the nest for their daily work, the ants spend two to 15 minutes sipping from this convenient reservoir.

The supply is so bountiful that ants from several other species can also drink from the debris without opposition.

21ST CENTURY CRASH LOOMS

Time is running out for computers, argue two silicon chip buffs from Glen Ellyn, Ill.

Jerome and Marilyn Murray point out that virtually all computer programs keep track of the date with six digits, such as 08-26-84.

That fact will cause a major problem in about 16 years when 12-31-99 becomes 01-01-00 and we enter the year 2000.

Persuading a computer that ``00`` is a higher number than ``99`` won`t be easy and even if the reprogramming started today, not all systems could be converted in time to avoid crashing, the Murrays argue in a technical text titled Computers in Crisis.

``My guess is that 30 percent of all systems will fail, regardless of what we do,`` said Jerome Murray.

While agreeing that computer programs face a very real problem in adjusting for the turn of the century, most computer experts disagree that it is a problem that cannot be solved with ease.

A reviewer for Computerworld, a popular paper with the industry, suggested that the Murrays are overstating their case, perhaps to draw attention to it.